G50VT / 9800M GS - Getting kinda hot in here!!!!

Hey all,

I'm having a slight problem with my notebook. Lately for the past week my temperatures have been wonkier than usual and my in-game temperatures (Left 4 Dead 2) have shot into the 100C range at lowest settings. My notebook is an ASUS G50VT-X5 with the 9800M GS. Until my temps started getting strange, I was using laptopvideo2go's 186.82 drivers. I never had any temperature problems especially during winter as I saw my GPU's idle temps go into the low 30s C more than once in my cold room. But up until last week, it used to idle between high 30s and low 50s MAX. Now GPU-Z shows my clock speeds fluctuating widely between 55C at LOWEST and 74C when I'm just watching a 1080p video clip on firefox/youtube!

I've tried all sorts of things. I tried using Dox's 195.62 drivers but didn't get any noticeable difference. I even tried using REB's Rivatuner guide to the letter. Only problem is the 9800M GS doesn't seem to follow instructions! It stays in one setting for much of the time and only occasionally downclocks! I tried tweaking around with firefox's settings on RT's Statistics Server with no avail.


Nothing seems to work! Would anyone here have any tips on what I can do to lower my laptop temperatures? I may go out and get some compressed air to remove any dust build-up but I'm not so sure how much this will help as this problem started cropping up just recently. Ntune didn't provide any help with 195.62 OR 186.82. I get BSOD every time I try to change settings!

Any ideas?


I'll set up a poll. I'm about to get my Macbook Pro for school as a mobile replacement. I'm trying to decide whether to sell this notebook on eBay for a few hundred with the warning that it can get hot. For more info, I get it as a refurb back in early December. It served me well.

 

You should have done that in the first place. The main cause of overheathing in laptops is dust build-up

 

Maybe I wasn't clear on my problem.


My GPU has suddenly developed a strange propensity for upclocking when it shouldn't . I get speeds of:

Core 530

Shader 1325

Memory 800



Before I started having this constant upclocking issue, GPU-Z would only show those speeds during heavy games. Never during youtube clips.

 

Are you running Flash 10.1?

 

Well, with 10.4, I had the upclocking issues. Installed 10.1 yesterday to see what would happen, same temp issues.

The funny part is this morning my temps seem tamer than usual. I haven't seen my temps go above 55C much. But I'm afraid to play L4D2 lest I kill my GPU with the 100C+ temps.

 

clean it out and do a clean install of your preferred driver. oh and mine up clocks web surfing too but i have not hit 100c during gaming. i average about 90-94 on l4d2. maxed.

 

Ahh damn..jinxed it...back at 64C!!!

EDIT: Yeah, did the clean stall already. Just need to clean out the inside.

Does anyone have a link to the manual for opening it up to gain access to the fans? I don't wanna take apart my whole laptop to do this...I'm nub to doing that.

 

I second this suggestion. I have had my G50vt-x1 for over one year and never had any overheating issues. My cpu(p8400) almost never goes above 45 C, and it won't even break 52 C after being heavily to 2.8 Ghz. About the 9800M gs, it peaked at 80 C in some very intensive games after hours of gaming and never went any higher. Even with both CPU and GPU OCed at the same time, GPU never got hotter than 85 C.

Here are a couple of things I do/have to keep this thing cool:

#1. Undervolting the CPU, this lowered the max p8400 temp by around 10 C and for a notebook with only one system fan, reducing the CPU temp indirectly lowers the GPU temp. This may sound a bit unbelievable, but in most of the games I run, my p8400 doesn't even go over 40 C after undervolting!! (ambient temp is around 20 C).

#2. I clean the inside components of my laptop on regular basis, about once every month or so. I also changed the CPU thermal paste to AS5.

#3. I have a coolermaster notebook pal underneath my G50vt all the time, it doesn't help reducing the system temp much, but still could make 2-3 C difference for the GPU.

#4. You may not want to do this, but I modded the backplate of my G50vt and improved the air circulation by drilling the fake grill vent thing that resembles a sub-woofer. I don't have a camera with me or I could take a pic for you.

Hope this helps.

 

Thanks. But 20C for GPU? That's insanely cold! I have a drill at home I may try to experiment with and I'm running a Zalman NC2000 fan underneath. Anyway, how did you get to the fans? Did you have to just lift a few covers and screws off?


As for undervolting...I've heard stories about it. Flashing BIOS. It sounds a bit risky. If I can get a G50VT-specific guide on how to do it along with some ideal numbers and settings to use, I'd be willing to give it a shot.

 

GPU usually hovers around 75 while gaming. And you don't need the take apart the system fan.

As the most prominent thing to do for you at first is to blow the dust out of your laptop.

And secondly, undervolt your CPU, note it's CPU not GPU. And you are mistaken CPU undervolting and GPU undervolting, undervolting CPU doesn't require you to flash your BIOS. Here is a very informative and detailed guide to teach you how to undervolt your CPU step by step:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/har...arket-upgrades/235824-undervolting-guide.html

It could lower your CPU temp by at least 10+ C at the cost of 0 $!!

 

Is there a manual on how to get access to the fan area?

 

Yes, there is.

 

I don't know if it applies to your machine, but perhaps a bump caused the heatsink to become partially separated from the GPU? I know I dropped my temperatures by almost 20C on my 5830 by simply properly applying heatsink paste and getting the heatsink to mate correctly.

 

Doubt it. I have taken it places, but I've never smacked it. Idle temps are up by about 8C and the central issue is the constant upclocking. It would seem to me that regular cleaning and undervolting may alleviate this problem. Heck, I'll be happy if it reduces my temps by even 8C even if isn't the 20C someone mentioned.

 

My laptop also gets to stock clocks with youtube and some websites, making my idle temps jump to 64°C

Just clean your machine and it will be fine. the G50series has a simple one access panel, so if you remove the back panel, you can clean carefully most of the notebook.

Be sure to remove the battery and power before doing so and you will be fine.

 

Can't seem to find compressed air at any Ralphs or Home Depots nearby. Anyone in the states know of a B&M store I can find it in cheap???

EDIT: Found a store. I think BB also carries them. I'll stop by either sometime today or tomorrow.

 

Yeah best buy carries them too.

 

Got a Dynex solution from BB. Though it's not a premium brand, it was probably much easier to work with than RadioShack's. Youtube video clip showed RS's stuff was too gooey.

EDIT: BTW, I've been using my laptop for over 10 minutes. Blowing air through the notebook and applying the paste seem to have helped somewhat. I'll report back in a couple of hours with final feedback. So far, my CPU temps are holding stable at low 30s.

EDIT2: Maybe my experience isn't representative of the average G50VT owner. But for some STRANGE reason, when I opened up my laptop and got a look at the CPU and GPU, I couldn't help but notice that the stock thermal paste on my CPU and GPU were almost GONE. The layers of paste remaining were so thin I was able to remove the paste from both using tissue and a dab of water in about 5 minutes. The GPU barely had any thermal paste left so I had it wiped down completely in 2 minutes. The CPU's paste was reduced to a super thin and dry smudge that was probably doing little to keep things cool


So my question now is this: Would it be wise to invest in one of these and keep a nice big bottle of thermal paste lying around for both my Asus and my Macbook Pro? The MBP 13 is known for getting hot at times and I'd to keep it up and running for at least 3 years if not more. I trust Apple to take care of my notebook, but there's nothing like seeing your temps go super low.

I'll be awaiting your guys' opinions while I peruse the undervolting guide. One benefit of being unemployed for the summer with school around the corner is taking up new hobbies!

 

#1. Undervolting the CPU, this lowered the max p8400 temp by around 10 C and for a notebook with only one system fan, reducing the CPU temp indirectly lowers the GPU temp. This may sound a bit unbelievable, but in most of the games I run, my p8400 doesn't even go over 40 C after undervolting!! (ambient temp is around 20 C).

A work in progress. Reading through.

#2. I clean the inside components of my laptop on regular basis, about once every month or so. I also changed the CPU thermal paste to AS5.

Done. I probably won't change it every month. I'm thinking every few months.

#3. I have a coolermaster notebook pal underneath my G50vt all the time, it doesn't help reducing the system temp much, but still could make 2-3 C difference for the GPU.

Done. I've had my NC200 for some time and I must say it really helps during warmer times.


#4. You may not want to do this, but I modded the backplate of my G50vt and improved the air circulation by drilling the fake grill vent thing that resembles a sub-woofer. I don't have a camera with me or I could take a pic for you.

A work in progress. I need to get my thin drill bit back from my dad.

 

I heard that by removing the fake subwoofer thing actually makes temps get hotter. No reason why ASUS wouldn't open up that grill if it helps keeping temps low. They didn't even open it up in the G51 series.

I use Nvidia System Tool to downclock the GPU when I don't need extra power. Rivatuner and other GPU tools don't seem compatible with this GPU. Set up profiles with the clock desired and activate it.

NVIDIA System Tools with ESA Support

My highest temp is 94C running furmark. I removed the thermal pads and didn't replace them. I applied thermal paste instead (I don't suggest this though).

Uh... you used water to clean the CPU and GPU? You should use isopropyl alcohol 90%+ for cleaning.

 

Hehe...I'm avoiding System Tools like the plague. Keep getting BSOD when I open some of their stuff.

 

What's an optimal voltage for the P7450 for undervolting? I've just hit the 5 minute mark under Orthos test while running at 1.1V. Any chance I can go below that????

 

Ok. I air canned out the innards. I applied new paste. I even undervolted the CPU down to 1.0V. Now the temperatures are a lot tamer than usual. I may end up investing in one of these babies sometime down the road.


I'll consider undervolting once someone has posted all the voltage numbers to use for it.

 

By the way, about the thin paste: that's usually a good thing. You want the paste layer to be as thin as possible.

That said, from what you described it sounded like you didn't have a paste layer.

 

Well it was super thin and dry to the point of being unnoticeable for the GPU and CPU. The GPU's paste just had a tiny concentration at the middle.

I was rather generous with the paste. Still turned out well.

 

What you have heard is NOT true, speaking from my own experience, I brought down the max GPU temp by at least 7 C (from mid 80 C to high 70 C) by drilling many small round holes under the fake grill vent( I didn't remove the whole thing), while the harddrive temp may only rise 2-3 C at worst, which is totally acceptable.

Many G51 owners have also done pretty much the same and reported back good results: http://forum.notebookreview.com/asus/411871-asus-g51-cooling-mod.html I assume if I cut off the whole fake grill like the people did in this thread, I will get even better result.

If you read through the undervolting guide, you will know no processors are made equally even if they are the same chip, meaning they all have different limits when it comes to undervolting. If my P7350 can go as low as 1.00v, there is no guarantee your p7350 could do the same. The best way to find the lowest stable voltage for your processor is to test yourself, keep lowering the voltage and testing stability until you get a BSOD, it's a process of trial and error and time-consuming job. But believe me, it is well worth it in the end.

It serves the same purpose as a can of compressed air, I would not buy it if you only have 1-2 computers you need to clean.

 

My G50VT uses a P7450. The guide I read was using 1.133V. I decided to up the ante and lower it to 1v and have gotten satisfying temps. I confess I only stress-tested it for 15 minutes instead of 30. So far, no problems.


Also the item I linked may serve the same purpose as a can of air. But I'm asking whether it's worth it because it provides unlimited air. It's powered. I'm thinking it may pay for itself in the long run as I periodically clean the insides maybe 2-3 times a year during holidays. I figured I might do all the cleaning during Christmas, spring break, and summer.

 

God...farking...dammit...

Temps keep fluctuating wildly again! Instead of going from 55-65 or 55-72, it now goes from 47-65!

 

I'm assuming this is your GPU under Windows 7 with Aero enabled?

 

Nope. Vista x64 with all eye-cany disabled.


Here's the weird part. At home, it fluctuated. Here at the coffeeshop, my GPU temps are STUCK without the use of my Zalman NC2000 cooler at 46C.


Hey 9800M GS, what gives??? Why you keep changing on me?

 

Are you monitoring your clocks? Use GPU-Z's realtime graph and see if your temperature increases correspond to upclocks.

 

Yeah. That was my primary problem from the beginning. Arbitrary upclocks to MAX clocks that I'd normally only seein games.

Once again, it's REALLY strange how my GPU temps have been super low at this very moment. I think it's because I haven't been opening as many browser windows as I normally do at home when I actually use my mouse.

So what does this mean? Should I avoid using a mouse when not gaming? If it'll help my notebook last longer, I'll do it. My touchpad even without multitouch is actually quite nice.

 

It's not something unusual for G50vt, mine behaved pretty much like yours too, the idle temp can vary A LOT, and by a lot, i mean 20 C difference, it can shoot up from 45 C to 65 C while I just browse, but most of the time it stays under 60 C. I closely observed the fan activity and it seems the system fan won't go on full blast until the GPU temp rises up to 75 C, which somewhat explains the unstable idle GPU temp.

There is no need to panic, idle temp doesn't matter, it's load temp that does. As long as you keep your load temp cool, you will be fine. Also monitor your GPU's behavior and make sure your GPU downclocks correctly.

 

It downclocks...eventually. Even when there's no need to upclock.

I've given up on Rivatuner and Nvidia System Tools. Guess I'll have to do the best I can.

 

Well, you can blame Nvidia for how they make the "smart" powermizer work. My GPU upclocks to the highest when I am just opening a pic, then it downclocks to the lowest. There is a guide somewhere on the forum and shows you how to make rivatuner a powermizer alternative and avoid the unnecessary upclock, but I didn't bother to follow as idle temp doesn't matter much.